Poulsbo Cruisers

Not trying to make light of this situation, but am curious. I’ve heard many stories of the impact the Coronavirus has had or will have on travel especially cruising and flying. I would think this would result in lower fares. But, I’m not seeing this. We have an upcoming seven-day Caribbean cruise on Princess at the end of May and a twelve-day Mediterranean cruise on HAL in September. The prices currently advertised for both cruises are higher than what we already have. We also have business class airfare through Flight Ease on the HAL cruise. Current airfare is $400 more per person than we already have. Maybe our cruises are the exception. Are others out there seeing lower prices since all the talk about the Coronavirus? I’m posting this on the Princess and HAL boards. 

Not trying to make light of this situation, but am curious. I’ve heard many stories of the impact the Coronavirus has had or will have on travel especially cruising and flying. I would think this would result in lower fares. But, I’m not seeing this. We have an upcoming seven-day Caribbean cruise on Princess at the end of May and a twelve-day Mediterranean cruise on HAL in September. The prices currently advertised for both cruises are higher than what we already have. We also have business class airfare through Flight Ease on the HAL cruise. Current airfare is $400 more per person than we already have. Maybe our cruises are the exception. Are others out there seeing lower prices since all the talk about the Coronavirus? I’m posting this on the Princess and HAL boards. 

The tux rental companies didn’t only service Princess. They rented a lot of tuxedos to all the cruise lines. Just about all the other mainline cruise lines have done away with formal nights. Princess is the lone holdout. I remember renting tuxes many years ago. It was very convenient when I was into that sort of thing. There was no way they could stay in business only renting to Princess cruisers. 

The two day SPB tour we took in St. Petersburg was one of the most memorable tours we have ever taken. We saw more, had a smaller group and paid substantially less than what the cruise line would charge. This company, as well as all private tour companies, survive on their reputations. They will assure you are back onboard in plenty of time. They also take care of the visa. 

We just booked our first Azamara cruise. The travel agent carefully reviewed the cancellation policy prior to us putting down the deposit. I believe it may be more common to find cancellation fees on smaller cruise ships. They just don’t have as many cabins to have locked up by people who aren’t sure they are going to actually take the cruise. You find this policy with river cruise lines all the time. 

Has anyone tried a travel router to get around the one device at a time limit?

We primarily do private excursions. It’s never been a problem getting back to the ship on time. These private companies wouldn’t stay in business if they didn’t get their guests back on time. The cruise lines love to throw the fear out there so you will pay more to see less with cruise line excursions. 

We are sailing HAL next year for the first time in many years. We have been primarily sailing on Princess. I’m trying to book airfare using Flight Ease. On the surface, it appears to be exactly the same as Princess EZ Air. The screens all look the same. My problem is trying to actually book the flights. The cruise isn’t until next September. I enter all the information, find flights that will work, go through the seat selection process, answer all the questions and then get a message that the flight is no longer available. Yet, the next day the same “no longer available flight” is still shown as an option. And it’s not just one selection, it happens on every selection unless a chose a different return flight that adds an additional cost. Is this normal with Flight Ease? Has anyone else experienced this problem? I did try calling HAL, but they couldn’t help. The flights showing up on Flight Ease for me didn’t come up on their screen. 

I’m sure posters can come up with all kinds of disadvantages, but to me, the low cost for overseas travel and the ability to change and cancel up to 45 days in advance outweighs any of these disadvantages. EZAir or FlightEase on HAL has allowed us to fly business class whenever we cruise in Europe. 

1 hour ago, drowelf said:

Hum, Try again. What are the details of the error message? I know that FlightEase can be picky at times, I've had instances when I could not review existing flights and it tells me to try again later. Also you need to be within 330 days of your return date before you can book flights. This would be either your disembarkation date, or later if you are doing anything post cruise. 

 

When I click on the manage flights button, I get taken to a screen that allows me to enter my flight selection details. 

 

I would suggest logging off and then back on again to HAL Website and keep on trying. 

Thank you. This explains the problem. I’m 326 days from embarkation. I didn’t realize I had to be 330 days from debarkation. I’ll just have to be a little more patient. 

We are sailing with HAL next year for the first time in many years. I want to start looking at airfares through Flight Ease. I can’t figure out how to do this. I opened up my booking then I clicked on travel planning. I then chose Pre & Post Cruise Travel. From that page I checked the box for flights. This took me to the Flight Ease page. So far so good, but this is where I’m having problems. Our names appear along with our departure city under the title Manage Flights. There’s also a Manage Flights button, but we do not yet have any flights to manage. I tried checking this button anyway and I just get an error message. The logical button to click is the one that states Continue to Review and Book. When I try this button I get a page that states there is nothing in my shopping cart. 

I believe that I’m just not understanding how to use the HAL website and I’m making a wrong turn somewhere. I’m relying on some of you HAL veterans to set me straight. Thanks. 

I can’t remember the price, but it was our honeymoon cruise in the Eastern Caribbean aboard the SS Norway in May 1990 departing from Miami. That was when cruise fares included airfare and a free night in a hotel when flying from the west coast to the east coast. We flew from Seattle. 

I struggle with understanding the refrigerator issue on HAL. We will be trying HAL for the first time in many years when we sail on the Nieuw Statendam next year. I keep seeing posts about HAL charging for refrigerators, but then look at YouTube videos from the Nieuw Statendam and see refrigerators showing in every cabin. Were these paid for in advance? Is that why they are in the cabins when people walk in? I’ve always taken refrigerators in cabins for granted having sailed on Princess for many years. 

Thanks for the great pictures. Next year we will be doing our first HAL cruise in many years. It will be on the Nieuw Stantendam. 

1 hour ago, BJzink said:

?definition of "large"?

Large is in the stomach of the beholder. For me it’s probably about six pieces. 

2 hours ago, BJzink said:

I have cruised on many HAL ships, all have servers for the food on the buffet on the lido.  It also helps for keeping down food waste, and passengers helping themselves to a huge stack of bacon!

 

Does this mean you can’t ask for a large portion of Bacon?

I note that the article states “Here are 10 of the best.........” the important words are “of the.” The article does not state “Here are the 10 best around the world cruises.” I think everyone is taking this too seriously. Being left off the list does not mean HAL isn’t one of the best. HAL, for whatever reason, just wasn’t covered in the article. 

We’ve never tried Costco excursions, but will check them out. We have switched to primarily all private excursions over the years. For less money and smaller groups, we see as much or more than the ship excursions. 

3 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

That is annoying.   For some strange reason, that gas station or company is not doing the "settlement" on that day's transactions in a timely manner.   They delay the settlement for a few days, so the initial hold sits on your account until they run the settlement.

I wish they would put a larger hold when filling my motorhome. I always have to run the card two or three times. 😂😂

We have been primarily sailing on Princess where OBC can be used prior to the cruise to book excursions. I know that HAL doesn’t allow this, but in this situation it doesn’t sound like you are getting OBC, but credit towards excursions. Would HAL let you use this credit  toward excursions booked prior to the cruise?

We’ve been cruising since 1990. There have been a lot of changes, but they have not lessened our experiences at all. Unlike many people, I don’t see that we are being nickeled and dimed to death. I see that we are being given choices we never had in the past. Yes, you may have to pay for them, but you have a choice. There was never such a thing as specialty restaurants when I started cruising. Specialty coffees? Forget it. And veranda cabins? Only for those who could afford a suite. When we took our first Mediterranean cruise in 2006 a friend, who worked for British Airlines, got us premium economy seats from Seattle for $2000. Now, we have EZAir and Flightease that has allowed us to fly business class on our last three cruises to Europe for around $2300. And for us, one of the best things that’s occurred is the change in dress code. I remember when a seven day cruise included two formal nights and two semi formal nights. That was a pain. 

This board is no no different than the Princess board. Same complaints. I would rather focus on all the positives and the great value we receive for the money we are spending. 

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

No.   You actually have to have booked a cruise to access the flight data.  Princess allows you to check flights without a booking.

That’s what I said. 

28 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It's easier if you have a cruise booked.  

 

You open your booking.

Select travel planning.

Select post and pre cruise travel.

Select flights.

Enter the information.

Couple of factors, you do not have to use the default dates.  You can book a couple of days early or late.

Just scroll through the selections.

 

It's more difficult but doable if you don't have a booking.

Go to the Princess site and select a cruise leaving the same port with about the same dates.  

Princess and Holland use the same booking engine.

I love this feature with Princess. I wish HAL allowed for checking airfares without first booking the cruise. I bet HAL ends up with a lot of phony bookings just to check airfares. 

Interesting thing about Princess; they don’t require everyone in the cabin to have the beverage package. Most of the other cruise lines require everyone in the cabin over 21 to purchase the beverage package if anyone in the cabin purchases one. I imagine the day will come when Princess joins the club. 

19 minutes ago, dave.s said:

All the other cruise lines I’ve used have the same requirement. They don’t want one person using their package to get “free” drinks for someone else (which would happen). 

Could be. We’ve been primarily sailing Princess. We are trying HAL next year for the first time in many years. Princess does not have this requirement. Their rule merely states:

• Packages may NOT be shared, are NON-transferable and NON-refundable.